The way EoC came into being is the matter. And it's birth is exactly the same as SoF, Solomon, etc.. Imposed upon
OSRS gold gamers. 1 Jmod recently posted about a poster on forums revealing some bugs in BA, it was good constructive feedback. Later posters remarked that all these bugs were found and delivered to Jagex in the beta, nevertheless they still made it to live. So players were not involved in the start, some two decades back, nor at the end.
Runescape can't survive by dismissing players. EVE Online doesn't, WoW doesn't. Both of these gave me jaw-dropping service in contrast to Runescape. So I don't Be Concerned about EVE or WoW surviving. "Because it's demonstrated to work." , well Runescape would never have been created if that argument applies to fresh updates. That's not much time to have traditional panaceas.
What Jagex is doing is about the easy cash. SoF is unregulated gambling in a match which has addictive properties, it is a natural fit. Is it a long term one? Nope. For two reasons, players will get sick of it, and also the law falls behind, but will catch up when politicians understand there's tax money to be produced. Japan went through this recently, they regulated their social websites that included some gambling, and the game firms mostly shut down. Because by that time they didn't care about the sport, only the money.
If Jagex had asked
Rs3 gold players around EoC we'd have likely got double wielding, the ability matters like emotes and thing dropping and a slower development from that point. If at all. These things would have made for a happier place at the moment. I believe that it's mad that Jagex won't ask players what they want. It's like they can not handle change unless they restrain it. In this instance, the most recent quest seems apt. Brink of Extinction.